Thoughts on new forum

[StryGuardian]

Hey everyone! I'm working on a forum for a relatively small group of hikers and wanted some opinions on the design. This is still a work in progress, but I'm quite happy with the look so far. Please let me know any areas for improvement or perhaps any add-ons that would be beneficial to a forum like mine. Maybe a wiki type add-on for trails in the state or something like that.

The forum is at

Brush & Bramble

A Louisiana Hiking Discussion Community

brushandbramble.com

.

Please let me know what you think can be improved design wise before I unveil it to the group. Thanks!

 

[JoyFreak]

It looks professional and well suited to your niche. You've done a great job. I don't see anything for you to improve on. I'd say unveil to the group and let them suggest things for you.

 

[StryGuardian]

Oh wow. I was not expecting that type of response. I feel a bit more confident in opening it up then. Did you check out the dark mode? I went a little experimental with it and I like it, but I'm curious if anyone else does.

 

[JoyFreak]

Oh wow. I was not expecting that type of response. I feel a bit more confident in opening it up then. Did you check out the dark mode? I went a little experimental with it and I like it, but I'm curious if anyone else does.

Honestly, you've done a fantastic job! It seems you've put in the effort into something worth-while. A lot of start-up forums do not put this much effort and it's nice to see those who do. The dark theme looks fantastic! It switches up really nice and still has it's own uniqueness. Great job!

 

[Anatoliy]

It looks cool. What style is it?
The only drawback that page load speed from 90+ (default xF style) went to 60.
I guess you could add @media (max-width: @xf-responsiveMedium){} and serve background image images/hike1.jpg for mobiles say 500px width, not 1000.

 

[Mendalla]

I like it. Looks good. Loaded well for me. I've never been outside New Orleans in your state so haven't done any hiking there. Maybe I'll have to hit your board before my next trip down.

 

[StryGuardian]

The style is Nova by Pixel Exit.

The only drawback that page load speed from 90+ (default xF style) went to 60.
I guess you could add @media (max-width: @xf-responsiveMedium){} and serve background image images/hike1.jpg for mobiles say 500px width, not 1000.

Thanks for that! I will have to do some resizing when I get the chance.

 

[BassMan]

Nice, clean and pro looking site. Nice logo too.

My suggestion is to change the category node color (and other block-header areas) to the same color you have in your header. I think it would be nicer, but just my point of view.

Good luck with your new site.

 

[Mendalla]

The style is Nova by Pixel Exit.

I actually looked at that for a site I had in mind. Nice to see it on a real site.

 

[Anatoliy]

The style is Nova by Pixel Exit.

So nova has dark style inside? Or I would have to buy dark nova additionally?

 

[StryGuardian]

So nova has dark style inside? Or I would have to buy dark nova additionally?

It comes with a dark and light style. I changes up the dark style quite a bit though.

 

[HotRodCarts]

Nice looking forum.

 

[Russ]

Great job on the color scheme! I love the green changes to Nova. The changes you made in the dark style also look great. Best of luck with the site!

 

[StryGuardian]

Nice looking forum.

Thank you so much!

Great job on the color scheme! I love the green changes to Nova. The changes you made in the dark style also look great. Best of luck with the site!

Thanks Russ. I really appreciate the kind words from everyone. I knew I liked it, but I wasn't sure anyone else would.

 

[Gemma]

You've done a great job on both the light & dark styles. Nice and clean. I do agree with Bassman about matching the category node colour and header but that's just my preference.

Good luck with your site

 

[Rhody]

It looks great! The only thing I would change would be to remove the extra "HOME" navigation on top, which I believe is meant for forums that are a sub page of another website that has a main page. HOME and FORUMS will take you to the same place.

If you want to remove it, go to admin panel -> Setup -> Options -> Basic board information

From there, you can blank out "Home Page URL" field, if you wish to make that button go away.

Good luck with the site. I love the logo

 

[Anatoliy]

The style is Nova by Pixel Exit.

Thanks for that! I will have to do some resizing when I get the chance.

well, now you have a twin brother in Oregon. )

 

[Anatoliy]

so about pagespeed insights

here is how xF original style (well, almost original) performs with ads & featured threads widget off.



and here is how Nova does



I use reduced font awesome files. fa-solid + fa-brands together are about 20k vs 220k of originals.
@Russ could you please provide a list of all f-awesome icons that nova uses & xF doesn't?

 

[Russ]

@Anatoliy this is not the thread to be posting support questions. You can use my forum or the Nova thread here on XenForo for help.

 

[Anatoliy]

@Anatoliy this is not the thread to be posting support questions. You can use my forum or the Nova thread here on XenForo for help.

ooops.... sorry.